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THE  GUMS  AND  RESINS  OF  COMMERCE. 
There  are  more  than  130  species  of  the  acacia  in  Australia, 
and  from  them  exudes  the  purest  gum  Arabic.  It  is  so  plentiful 
that  at  particular  periods  several  pounds  may  be  collected  in 
some  places  in  an  hour  or  two.  It  possesses  all  the  good  pro* 
perties  of  the  gum  from  Arabia,  and  is  used  successfully  for  the 
same  purposes  in  the  colony.  The  Acacia  Senegal  or  Mimosa 
Senegalensis,  a  tree  rising  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  high,  affords 
the  Senegal  Gum  of  commerce,  which  does  not  differ  essentially 
from  the  gum  of  Acacia  vera,  except  in  the  shape,  and  being 
somewhat  less  soluble.  In  1849  we  imported  5696  cwt.  of  gum 
Senegal  direct  from  Senegambia,  and  256  cwt.  from  Morocco, 
whence  the  imports  in  1853  reached  to  2838  cwt.  In  1840,  we 
imported  601  cwt.  from  the  Gambia,  and  in  1851,  850  cwt.  of 
gum  Senegal,  but  none  in  subsequent  years.  In  the  Algerian 
collection  at  Paris,  mention  is  made  of  Mesteba,  an  indigenous 
gum  of  Northern  Africa,  of  which  little  seems  to  be  known,  ex- 
cept that  it  forms  an  article  of  traffic  at  the  markets  of  the  oases 
in  the  Algerian  desert. 
Another  white  gum,  called  Aourouar,  is  also  spoken  of,  and 
which  is  said  to  be  shipped  to  England  by  the  way  of  Souira  ;  a 
darker  gum  yielded  by  a  tree  called  toleukh,  is  brought  by  the 
caravans  from  Timbuctoo*  These  are  probably  some  of  the 
darker  and  less  valuable  gum  Arabics  which  come  into  commerce 
under  the  name  of  Barbary  and  other  gums. 
Mezquite  Gum. — Attention  has  recently  been  called  in  the 
United  States  to  the  discovery,  in  great  abundance,  of  a  species 
of  acacia,  known  as  the  mezquite  tree,  which  furnishes  large 
quantities  of  gum,  nearly  equal  to  the  gum  Arabic  of  Africa. 
It  will  no  doubt  prove  a  valuable  source  of  revenue  to  the  State 
of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  the  adjacent  Indian  territory,  be- 
sides affording  employment  to  the  different  tribes  of  Indians, 
now  roving  upon  the  plains,  many  of  whom  would  be  glad  to 
gather  and  deliver  it  to  the  different  frontier  government  posts 
for  a  very  small  compensation. 
The  mezquite  is  by  far  the  most  abundant  tree  of  the  plains, 
covering  thousands  of  miles  of  the  surface,  and  always  flourishes 
most  luxuriantly  in  elevated  and  dry  regions.  The  gum  exudes 
spontaneously  in  a  semi-fluid  state  from  the  bark  of  the  trunk 
and  branches,  and  soon  hardens  by  exposure  to  the  atmosphere, 
